Rockets to get Bobby Jackson for Wells, James

Published 6:30 am, Thursday, February 21, 2008

The Rockets reached agreement on a deal that will send guard/forward Bonzi Wells and guard Mike James to New Orleans today in exchange for backup point guard Bobby Jackson, individuals with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday night.

The deal, which has grown to include the minor involvement of the Memphis Grizzlies, is pending league approval, with a conference call scheduled for today.

The Rockets will make the move to add Jackson as a veteran point guard to play behind Rafer Alston, sending Wells to the first-place Hornets while getting New Orleans to take on the two seasons and $12.7 million remaining on James' contract after this season.

Jackson is signed for $6.1 million through the 2008-09 season, potentially offering the Rockets the roster flexibility next season — with a large, expiring contract — that they did not have this season.

The Rockets also will receive rookie guard Adam Haluska and either their own or New Orleans' second-round pick, whichever is greater. They previously had been sending a second-round pick next season to Seattle to complete the trade for the pick they used to draft Carl Landry in the 2007 draft.

With the deal, the Rockets will move under the luxury tax and might have an opportunity to make another roster move. Also with the deal, they move their player salaries under the luxury tax threshold of $67.865 million by enough that if there is a player available they would want to add, they could release a player to create a roster spot and sign a free agent to a pro-rated salary for the rest of the season without incurring a luxury tax penalty.

To complete the deal, Memphis will receive forward Marcus Vinicius and either a second-round pick or the rights to former Rockets draft pick Malick Badiane and the rights to an unsigned player from the Hornets.

The key for the Rockets was to get Jackson while moving the last contract tied to the burdensome, long-term contracts they gave when rebuilding.

With Luther Head back from his groin injury, Wells' playing time was expected to decrease in the backcourt while the emergence of rookies Luis Scola and Landry has already reduced his minutes at power forward, where he often finished games early in the season. Wells' playing time will now be spread among Head, Landry, Scola, Chuck Hayes and Steve Novak.

Wells had averaged 22 minutes per game and was the Rockets' fourth-leading scorer, averaging 9.2 points per game, though his extended playing time often came in the 15 games Tracy McGrady missed.

A late signing before the 2006-07 season, Wells clashed initially with former Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, then, once moved into the rotation on Dec. 12, 2006, struggled with injuries and conditioning. He chose to return to the Rockets when Van Gundy was replaced by Rick Adelman but again struggled early in the season and received inconsistent playing time, though he had played relatively well in the Rockets' nine-game win streak.

James, reacquired last June for Juwan Howard, has played in just 33 games, averaging 6.5 points on 35 percent shooting. He was inactive for Tuesday's 93-85 victory over Cleveland when Head returned from his groin injury.

For the Rockets, however, the key to the deal was to try again to find a veteran point guard after the additions of James and Steve Francis failed to bring help.

Jackson, who will turn 35 next month, had his best seasons playing for Adelman in Sacramento, where he was a key player off the bench for five seasons and won the 2003 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.